World News - Soldier: Honor Troops Like Va. Tech Dead U.S. Soldier: Flags at Half-Staff for Virginia Tech; Why Not for Fallen U.S. Troops?

An Army sergeant complained in a rare opinion article that the U.S. flag flew at half-staff last week at the largest U.S. base in Afghanistan for those killed at Virginia Tech but the same honor is not given to fallen U.S. troops here and in Iraq. In the article issued Monday by the public affairs office at Bagram military base north of Kabul, Sgt. Jim Wilt lamented that his comrades' deaths have become a mere blip on the TV screen, lacking the "shock factor" to be honored by the Stars and Stripes as the deaths at Virginia Tech were. "I find it ironic that the flags were flown at half-staff for the young men and women who were killed at VT, yet it is never lowered for the death of a U.S. service member," Wilt wrote. If they could use the dead soldiers to advance the Anti Gun Nuts agenda they would. However, they see this as an excuse to disarm all Americans and impose more restrictions, thought crimes and all the stupid Hate Crimes that they can squeeze from this ... http://abcnews.go.com

The Citadel will break with tradition and install locks on all cadet rooms amid concerns about safety in the wake of the Virginia Tech shootings.Male cadets at the state military college have no locks on their barracks doors. Female cadets can lock their doors from the inside. The tradition had evolved in keeping with the spareness of military life and with the school's honor code, which mandates that cadets do not steal.Now, all cadets will get keys to lock their doors from the outside by next semester. Installing the locks will cost about $125,000."This decision in no way compromises the honor system. The personal standards that a cadet does not lie, cheat or steal nor tolerate those who do remains the centerpiece of The Citadel experience," said the school's president, retired Air Force Lt. Gen. John Rosa....http://www.cnn.com/2007/EDUCATION/04/23/citadel.security.ap/index.html?eref=rss_us

A leading Pakistani news channel says the government is threatening to close it for its coverage of the row over the suspension of the country's top judge. Aaj (Today) says it is accused of not securing permission to broadcast and inciting violence in its reporting. The channel denies the allegations and says it is being unfairly targeted. Last month, police attacked the offices of another channel, Geo, for defying government attempts to influence its reporting of the crisis. President Pervez Musharraf later apologised on air for the conduct of police, promising that the freedom of the press would be protected. The crisis began after he suspended Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry last month, saying he had abused his position. The judge, who has a reputation for independence, denies wrong-doing. ...http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6583695.stm

An overnight wind shift drove smoke from the wildfire in southeast Georgia to Atlanta and Chattanooga, Tennessee, officials said Sunday. The wildfire, believed to have started from a downed power line on April 16, is 30 percent contained, but continues to spread, Sharon Dolliver of the Georgia Forestry Commission said. Another 10,000 acres burned Sunday and the total burn is 55,000 acres, or 85 square miles. Another commission spokesman, Eric Mosley, said firefighters were able to get a lot accomplished Sunday. "We were able to get a lot of firebreaks laid," Mosley said. "Unfortunately we have to work with the weather. We are really just praying for rain." The fire destroyed about 18 homes and forced 1,000 people to evacuate earlier this week....http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/04/22/ga.wildfire.ap/index.html?eref=rss_us

Banking regulators may push more homeowners into foreclosure by making it tougher to refinance subprime mortgages, said Angelo Mozilo, head of the largest U.S. home-loan lender. The Federal Reserve, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency proposed guidelines last month that would encourage lenders to turn down borrowers who won't be able to afford mortgages after ``teaser'' rates expire. Rates on loans to people with poor or limited credit are typically fixed for two or three years and then rise. The plan is an ``inadvertent attack on liquidity exactly when it shouldn't happen,'' Mozilo, co-founder and chief executive officer of Countrywide Financial Corp., said in a phone interview last week from his office in Calabasas, California. The change would block more than half of subprime borrowers from refinancing mortgages at a time when slumping real estate prices have already caused delinquencies to rise to a four-year high, according to Mozilo. ...http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=aST7PK5_3Ua8&refer=exclusive

A group of senior former World Bank employees has urged beleaguered head Paul Wolfowitz to resign, saying he can no longer be an effective leader. Mr Wolfowitz is battling to remain in his job after admitting helping his partner win a promotion and pay rise. More than 40 World Bank officials, including 18 former vice-presidents, published their call in an open letter to the Financial Times newspaper. They said Mr Wolfowitz had "lost the trust and respect of bank staff". Mr Wolfowitz, who has apologised for his "mistake", has vowed to stay on to continue what he called "important work". He has said that he is confident he can carry out the World Bank's mission. But the authors of the letter said, "There is only one way for Wolfowitz to further the mission of the bank: he should resign." ...http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/6582701.stm